Once again, the story from the farm system is more pretty good pitching. Nine shutout innings in Iowa is noteworthy, but I think today the big news is what happened in Double A.
Oscar De La Cruz is one of the Cubs’ best prospects (No. 2 in the Top 40) with some of the highest upside in the farm system. In his first two starts, he didn’t pitch like it. Yesterday he did. De La Cruz threw 82 pitches over six innings, allowed just a single hit and a single walk, and struck out six.
Sure, it was just one start against a not very good team, and sure the wind was blowing straight in at a fair clip, but six innings of one hit ball in Double A is impressive. This is exactly the sort of game we wanted to see from De La Cruz this year. Hopefully we see a lot more like it.
Triple A: Iowa Cubs
Nashville 1, Iowa 0 in 10 innings
This was basically a bullpen game for Iowa, and the bullpen pitched very well.
Alberto Baldonado: 1.2 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 4 K
Rob Zastryzny: 3.1 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 3 K
Anthony Bass: 2 IP, 2 K
Justin Hancock: 2 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 3 K
Mark Zagunis: 1 for 3, BB
Efren Navarro: 1 for 3, BB
Double A: Tennessee Smokies
Tennessee 5, Montgomery 1
The Smokies have won four straight.
Oscar De La Cruz: 6 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 6 K
Preston Morrison: 2 IP, 1 R, 3 H 2 BB, 3 K
Jake Stinnett: 1 IP, 1 BB, 2 K
Zack Short: 1 for 4, 2B
Yasiel Balaguert: 2 for 4
Erick Castillo: 1 for 4, HR
Jeffrey Baez: 2 for 4, 2B, SB
High A: Myrtle Beach Pelicans
Down East 6, Myrtle Beach 5
A late rally came up short.
Tyson Miller: 6 IP, 6 R (5 ER), 7 H, 2 BB, 7 K
Jordan Minch: 2 IP, 2 K
Wyatt Short: 1 IP, 1 K
Vimael Machin: 2 for 4, 2B, HR, BB
Tyler Alamo: 2 for 5, 2B
Chris Pieters: 1 for 5, 3B
Daniel Spingola: 1 for 3, HR
Andruw Monasterio: 3 for 3, 2B, BB, 2 SB
Low A: South Bend Cubs
Dayton 3, South Bend 2
All the scoring in this game was finished after the third inning.
Erich Uelmen: 4.2 IP, 3 R, 6 H, 2 BB, 6 K
Bailey Clark: 3.1 IP, 2 H, 7 K
Roberto Caro: 2 for 4, SB
Yeiler Peguero: 1 for 3, 3B
Christian Donahue: 1 for 3, 2B
Other Notes
Iowa has not yet announced an official starter for today’s game. Yesterday’s starter was supposed to be Luke Farrell, but he was a late scratch. He may be available today, or it might be that the rumored assignment of Adbert Alzolay to Iowa is about to happen. Tentatively, that’s the expectation …
Lefty Myrtle Beach closer Wyatt Short has now appeared in four games, tossed 6.2 innings, and allowed a total of two hits. His ERA remains 0.00.
Bailey Clark kept his impressive early season run going. His ERA is now 1.59 through 11.1 IP, and he has struck out 14.
Arguably the best pitcher for the Cubs in the first few weeks of the season has been Tyler Thomas. He is on the mound, at home, for South Bend tonight.
NEWSLETTER
